Airborn by Kenneth Oppel. My coworker Sam recommended this book. I think I started falling in love with steampunk while reading it.

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby. A library patron recommended this book to me when she returned it. This is an amazing memoir about the power of communication. I read this book when my father was sick with a terminal illness which made it more bittersweet.

The Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks. This novel is one my officemate’s favorites. What dark but beautiful prose.

Wolf Hunt by Gillian Bradshaw. This novel was also recommended by my officemate Beverly. I love Gillian Bradshaw’s historical fiction. She chooses time periods that haven’t been overexposed instead of setting her novels in the “trendy” eras.

Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende. Again, this was recommended by Beverly. Allende’s writing is so captivating that she deserves not only to be read, but to be studied.

Killer Pancakeby Diana Mott Davidson. (An aside: The next time you hear someone complain about video games being violent, remember that the emergence and popularity of the subgenres of recipe, cat and knitting murder mysteries are proof that sweet-looking older women also escape into worlds filled with blood and guts. Think Arsenic and Old Lace.)

3. Boneshaker by Cherie Priest. While I was reading this book, I felt like I was reading a movie script instead of a novel with all the action and dialogue. I think this steampunk zombie story would be a blockbuster. Zombies are hot right now. Right?

4. Airborn by Kenneth Oppel. There were rumors that this film was being made, but it seems to have been abandoned.

5. The Looking Glass Warsby Frank Beddor. Again, this trilogy seemed more like three scripts than novels. Hatter would have such an awesome costume! I’m sure some Lewis Caroll fans would be displeased, but I think this version would be an interesting variation to the classic story. IMDb lists it as “in development.”

6. Incarceronby Catherine Fisher. This movie would be all about the special effects. Looks like there are plans for a movie version. I also think this book would make a great video game.

7. The Year of the Flood. Margaret Atwood’s novel would make a chilling post-apocalyptic movie. I can see an actress like Natalie Portman playing Ren.

8. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. This adaptation of Jane Austen’s classic is ridiculous, but hilarious. I’d go to the theaters to see it, and I’m a Jane Austen devotee.

9. Wildwood Dancingby Juliet Marillier. This story is dark, magical and suspenseful. If the filmmakers did it justice, I’d watch the movie over and over again.

10.Behind Green Glass. Of course, I would love to see my own novel made into a film. I can dream!

Top Ten Characters I’d Want As Family Members

1. Jean Valjean from Les Miserables. Sometimes the best family members aren’t blood-related. Jean Valjean is one of the greatest father figures ever, defining unselfish love by protecting and providing for his adopted daughter Cosette.

2. Nobody Owens from The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. I want to adopt him. The ghosts do a pretty good job raising him though, I must say. Still, he could use some mothering–a hearty dinner, clean clothes and a sympathetic ear.

3. Tobin from Dragon Slippers by Jessica Day George. I always wanted an older brother, and this mute bodyguard would fit the role perfectly.

4. Primrose from The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. Prim is one of the characters that develops the most in this trilogy. The older sister in me would do anything to protect her, just like Katniss.

5. Alice Cullen from Twilight by Stephanie Meyers. She’d make an awesome sister. She’s fun, fashionable and she can predict the future somewhat accurately. However, I’m not sure she’d be good for my moral development.

6. Matt from Airborn by Kenneth Oppel. I’m not quite old enough to be his mother, but I’d be proud to have him as a son a few years down the road. He’s kind, intelligent, adventurous. I’m amused when he lets Kate push him around.

7. Sherlock Holmes. “Uncle Sherlock” has such a nice ring to it! I’d love to drink port with him and unravel mysteries. He seems too distant a character to be a close relative, but he’d be a wonderful family resource.

8. Charlotte Lucas from Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. I think she’d make a great cousin or older sister, providing a healthy dose of practicality now and then.

9. Ethan from The Iron King by Julie Kagawa. I’m reading this novel right now, and I’m so afraid for the real Ethan. He seems so adorable! I’d like to have him as a son.

10. Do we get to have a dragon? He wouldn’t be a pet…more like a giant brother. I choose Fenuil, the neurotic dog-loving dragon from Dragon Slippers by Jessica Day George.